egister today for the 2013 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, which will be held on 5 April 2013 from 9am to 5pm in Salt Lake City, Utah. Speakers will address the themes of Mormonism, Transhumanism and Transfigurism, with particular attention to topics at the intersection of technology, spirituality, science and religion. Previous conferences sponsored by the Mormon Transhumanist Association include the 2012 conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, the 2010 Transhumanism and Spirituality conference, and the 2009 Mormonism and Engineering conference. The conference is open to the public.

Keynote Speakers

Ben Goertzel will speak on “Faster Than You Think: The Advent of Transhuman Artificial General Intelligence”. He is Chief Scientist of financial prediction firm Aidyia Holdings; Chairman of AI software company Novamente LLC and bioinformatics company Biomind LLC; Chairman of the Artificial General Intelligence Society and the OpenCog Foundation; Vice Chairman of futurist nonprofit Humanity+; Scientific Advisor of biopharma firm Genescient Corp.; Advisor to the Singularity University and Singularity Institute; Research Professor in the Fujian Key Lab for Brain-Like Intelligent Systems at Xiamen University, China; and general Chair of the Artificial General Intelligence conference series. He has published a dozen scientific books, 100+ technical papers, and numerous journalistic articles.

Richard Bushman will speak on “From Humanity to Fulness the Mormon Way”. He retired as Gouverneur Morris Professor of History at Columbia University in 2001, and then came out of retirement in 2008 to accept a position as visiting Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University. He is the author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling and Co-General Editor of the Joseph Smith Papers. He chairs the Board of Directors of the Mormon Scholars Foundation which fosters the development of young LDS scholars. With his wife Claudia Bushman, he is the father of six children and twenty grandchildren. He has been a bishop, stake president, and patriarch and is currently a sealer in the Manhattan Temple.

Special Guest Speakers

Carl Teichrib will speak on “A Christian Critique of Christian Transhumanism”. He is a Canadian-based researcher, writer, and communicator regarding the historic and contemporary worldview shifts taking place, including political and economic globalization, and socio-religious trends. He is the editor of Forcing Change (www.forcingchange.org), a monthly publication dedicated to documenting and analyzing the structures of transformation, and is a frequent guest on radio talk shows. Over the years, his work has been utilized by other researchers, authors, and commentators. Carl’s biases are transparent: he embraces a Christian worldview (evangelical/conservative), is pro-liberty (versus politically imposed equality), pro-individualistic (versus consensus collectivism), and pro-free market (volunteer and consensual exchange).

Peter Wicks will speak on “An Atheist Transhumanist Critique of Religious Transhumanism”. He studied mathematics at Cambridge, England, where he obtained his PhD in 1991. Since then he has worked mainly at the European Commission, where his responsibilities have ranged from environment policy to research on industrial accidents. In 2011 he took unpaid leave from the Commission to explore alternative career opportunities. In recent years he has become fascinated by the potential philosophical implications of emerging technologies, and broadly supports the goals of the transhumanist movement. Though raised as an Anglican Christian, Peter currently regards himself for all practical purposes as an atheist.

Registration Discounts

If you are a voting member of the association, or if you are a speaker at the conference, the association will cover the cost of your admission and give your guest a discount. Also, if you represent a media outlet and would like to report on the conference, the association may cover the cost of your admission. If any of these cases apply to you, please contact an association officer or email admin@transfigurism.org for your access code.

If you are a student, unemployed or resident of a less-developed country, discounts are available at registration time. Conference organizers will ask you to provide evidence of your student, unemployed or residency status when you check in at the conference.

Click here to register for the 2013 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association!

Travel Assistance

The association may cover up to 50% of your travel costs to attend the conference if you meet the following criteria:

1) You must be a voting member of the association.
2) You must present a paper at the conference.
3) You must live at least 300 miles from Salt Lake City.

If you meet the above criteria, you may request assistance by contacting an association officer or emailing admin@transfigurism.org.

Food

Lunch will be served at the conference and is included in the reservation price. During registration, you can designate whether you will join us for lunch, and whether you would like a vegetarian meal. Everyone attending the conference is also invited to gather for dinner at a nearby restaurant (to be determined) after the conference. Dinner is NOT included in the reservation price, but you can designate during registration whether you will join us, so that we may arrange a reservation at the restaurant.

Lodging

The association cannot directly cover lodging expenses. However, association members living in Salt Lake City and nearby areas may be able to help. We encourage members willing to provide lodging in their homes and members seeking lodging to communicate on the association Google group and Facebook group.

After-Conference Activities

We invite conference attendees to enjoy a leisurely tour of Salt Lake City and possibly attend a session of the LDS Church worldwide conference together on 6 April (the day after the MTA conference). If you would like to participate, please indicate your interest during registration, so that we may make appropriate arrangements.

Click here to register for the 2013 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association!:

The conference has issued a Call For Papers, with the following suggested topics:

Mormonism
Religion, Anti-Religion and Fundamentalism; Authentic Mormonism; God, Gods and Godhood; Trusting and Being Christ; From the Fullness of Times to the Millennium; Immortality and Eternal Life in Worlds without End